Kings of Leon (file)

Photo: Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — The spirit and energy of the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards — the madcap awards show that celebrates independent music and college radio across the country — was distilled entirely in the show’s opening performance.

Once the lights dimmed at Roseland Ballroom, house DJ Diplo cranked out booty-shaking jams while the giant video screens showed Brooklyn new-wave duo Matt and Kim riding through the city on bicycles. Once they arrived, they stormed the stage and kicked into “Lessons Learned.” Flanked by eight backup singers who gradually stripped down to their underwear (in a nod to the Video Music Award-winning video for the same song), the duo jubilantly pounded out the song. Unlike this year’s VMAs, stage crashers were welcomed during Matt and Kim’s three minutes of joy, and Kim herself mounted the crowd at the end.

	Woodie Awards Show Highlights

From there, Pete Wentz — dressed casually and holding a red plastic cup (a common accessory throughout the evening) — sauntered onstage and officially kicked off the show, which airs December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU. What followed was a cavalcade of fun-loving guest appearances, energy-packed performances and plenty of enthusiastic crowd interaction.

Zooey Deschanel appeared next, running off a long and complicated story about cloning herself to find out about more bands and presenting the Breaking Woodie award to Never Shout Never. 3OH!3 turned plenty of heads when they appeared dressed in the same red-lace costume Lady Gaga wore to the VMAs, then handed the Left Field Woodie to a grateful Tech N9ne. Other winners included Hotel of the Laughing Tree (the Long Island quintet who picked up the Best Music on Campus Woodie and seemed overwhelmed by the whole fiasco), Green Day (who were absent, forcing Asher Roth to accept in their honor — which he did by leaping into the crowd while wearing a throwback basketball jersey) and Matt and Kim (who won the Best Video Woodie for “Lessons Learned”).

On the performance front, nobody could quite match the manic grandeur of Matt and Kim, but Passion Pit (who whipped the crowd into a frenzy with a ridiculous rendition of “The Reeling”) and the Clipse, (who brought out Cam’ron and Rick Ross for a chaotic but thrilling run through a handful of lightning-tongue verses) came pretty close. With all the flailing limbs and semi-nude people, it was easy to miss the easy poise of Death Cab for Cutie, who rolled through their “New Moon” soundtrack song, “Meet Me on the Equinox,” with an arena-rock grace, clearly cementing themselves as not only the night’s elder statesmen, but also the band ready for much bigger rooms than Roseland.

By the end of the evening, the crowd was soaked with sweat but still swaying and dancing and drinking. Like the best college party, it hardly mattered who won in the end (that would be Kings of Leon, who scored the night’s top honor of Woodie of the Year).

Don’t miss the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, airing on December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU!

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Death Cab for Cutie at the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards

Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

NEW YORK — The Woodie Awards, mtvU’s annual celebration of college music and independent spirit, are often thought of as the raucous kid brother to the Video Music Awards. They feature artists on the fringes of various music scenes and bands who are only a radio hit or buzzworthy live show away from breaking into the big time. This year’s show was no different, featuring envelope-pushing weirdos like Matt and Kim and Passion Pit.

So what were Death Cab for Cutie — a band that has sold millions of records for a major label and whose recent hit is attached to the most hotly anticipated Hollywood movie of the season — doing there? They were teaching the kids how it’s done.

	Woodie Awards Show Highlights

Eschewing twitchy raucousness for the kind of stateliness usually reserved for the likes of bands like U2 and Coldplay, Ben Gibbard and his band filled Roseland Ballroom with the regal noise and big hooks of “Meet Me on the Equinox,” the new single from the soundtrack to “New Moon.”

But rather than appear as the tiny band that sold out, they were greeted as the local boys who made good in the outside world. Death Cab for Cutie spent the better part of a decade toiling on the margins, and they provided a glimpse into what is possible if you truly stick to your guns and carve out a niche for yourself. Indeed, Death Cab for Cutie simply became too good for the mainstream to ignore.

As far as “Meet Me on the Equinox” goes, the band absolutely killed it. Guitarist Chris Walla’s towering, atmospheric power chords hung over the room like a great cloud of goth energy, while Gibbard crooned the song’s melancholy refrain. “Everything/ Everything ends,” goes the chorus, but for any young bands — or rapt fans, for that matter — watching Death Cab on Wednesday evening (November 18), “Equinox” represented the beginning of a possibility. “Thanks,” Gibbard mumbled as the band left the stage, proving no amount of “Twilight” fandom or Hollywood spouses can take the indie out of certain people.

Don’t miss the 2009 mtvU Woodie Awards, airing on December 4 at 10 p.m. on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU!

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Lady Gaga onstage at the MOCA 30th Anniversary gala on Saturday

Photo: John Shearer/ Getty Images

On Saturday night in Los Angeles, Lady Gaga brought her music and sense of style to the art world when she performed at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’s 30th Anniversary gala. The singer performed the ballad “Speechless,” from her forthcoming album The Fame Monster, side by side with dancers from Russia’s Bolshoi Ballet.

Other A-listers on hand to celebrate the museum’s anniversary included Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, James Franco, and Jessica Biel.
According The Wall Street Journal, Gaga played a piano designed by artist Damien Hirst while the dancers wore outfits designed by architect Frank Gehry, fashion designer Miuccia Prada and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann. The performance art piece was conceived by artist Francesco Vezzoli. Gaga wore a silvery gray ball gown with what appeared to be a papier-mâché headpiece.

“To have all of these very amazing art lovers — a very high-brow art community — to be engaged in the commercial community and blend the two together … having my fans watch the video and be exposed to a level of art and a level of install that they may have never seen before, it’s so beautiful,” Gaga said about being part of the star-studded event.

Speaking to the press with her friend and photographer David LaChapelle at her side, Gaga continued, “The true mark of collaboration is a genuine union and a back and forth and a trajectory and something that’s symbiotic,” she explained. “And that’s what happens when you don’t stifle the creativity of others. That’s when the lie becomes the truth.”

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Usher

Photo: Steve Granitz/ Getty Images

Usher was set to release his next album, Raymond vs. Raymond, in early 2010, but since the single “Papers” has everyone buzzing, he won’t keep fans waiting much longer. The singer has bumped up the album-release date to December 21, a rep for Usher confirmed to MTV News on Friday (November 13).

Producer Bryan Michael Cox spoke with MTV News recently about his work on the upcoming album, promising a deeply personal project from Usher.

“I think Usher is in a place where he really wants to express what’s going on in his life, as any artist would,” Cox said, referring to Usher’s divorce from Tameka Foster-Raymond. “All the greats did it. Marvin Gaye did Here, My Dear. All the greats express where they are personally.”

Cox said the album will tell the stories everyone wants to hear, especially since Usher is back on the single scene.

“I think [the new album] is where we are going to see Usher as an artist. I’m very curious to hear what the rest of the album is going to sound like,” Cox said about Raymond vs. Raymond. “Our records are definitely in that lane of touching on what’s going on in his life, so we are going to see what’s going to happen. I’m very excited about the album. I think he has a lot to say.”

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Gucci Mane

Photo: Ben Rose/ Getty Images

Gucci Mane was sentenced to 12 months in jail on Thursday (November 12) for probation violation and taken away in handcuffs, according to his lawyer.

Mane pleaded guilty to assault in 2005 for attacking a nightclub promoter, and last September, he was sentenced to a year in jail for failing to fulfill his court-ordered 600 hours of community service in that case. He went to jail and served until March. Upon his release, Gucci went straight to the studio and recorded five songs.

The sentence is a blow to Gucci’s career. The ATL rapper has an album coming out — The State vs. Radric Davis — on December 8 and is arguably at the height of his career; in terms of his sentence, he may be out of jail in six months.

Gucci has remained one of the hottest MCs in hip-hop solely off his multitude of underground songs released on mixtapes. The records kept him relevant in the clubs and streets and elevated his already blossoming fan-favorite status.

“It was a challenge for me,” he told MTV News in March about going to jail. “I’m just happy my team kept my music going strong for me. And I’m happy I recorded so many records so people could hear me.”

This year, Gucci definitely was breaking through from the streets to the mainstream, appearing on tracks for the Black Eyed Peas, Mario, Omarion, Mariah Carey and even a 50 Cent song. Gucci’s current single is called “Spotlight” and features Usher. This follows on the heels of “Wasted,” featuring Plies.

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Travis Barker

Photo: Kristian Dowling/ Getty Images

Apparently, Travis Barker doesn’t sleep. At all. Which is how he’s able to keep cranking out remixes while simultaneously working on a new Blink-182 record, his own solo album, and rehearsing for an upcoming show with none other than Slash (a November 22 benefit for the Los Angeles Youth Network). And that’s not even getting into his business ventures, or his role as a rock-and-roll dad.

“Yeah, I wake up at 6,” he laughed. “I’m a busy man, I guess.”

Seriously, the guy never rests. And as if you need further proof of this, check out his brand-new remix of Drake’s “Forever” (with video of Travis drumming), which Barker emailed to MTV News Wednesday (November 11) morning. It’s just the latest in a long line of hip hop tracks he’s remixed (earlier this year, he took a stab at Eminem’s gory “3 A.M.” and his take on Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” has already established itself as a YouTube staple), and it just proves that he can’t leave a good beat alone.

“This song gets played so much — whether it be on TV or on the radio or XM — and I think songs like this that you can’t escape, you start to get ideas in your head about how you’d want to flip it,” Barker said. “And this song is awesome; every verse is crazy. Who could ask for a better lineup as far as rappers? And everyone’s going in on their verse. So I was excited about it, I didn’t have to think twice about getting on it.”

Working strictly off an a cappella track, Barker crafted his “Forever” mix from the ground up, spending a week tinkering in the studio with his production partner, Sweatshop. The main goal, he said, was to build a drum line that matched the constantly shifting mood and tempo of the song, which famously features verses from Kanye West, Lil Wayne and Eminem, even if that meant showing a bit of restraint on the remix — something he’s not used to doing.

“Remixes are hard, because some of my critics will be like, ‘Trav, you shoulda gone bananas on it,’ but going bananas on it will sometimes take away from how cool a song is — it’s a happy medium,” he laughed. “With this one, I see a gradual crescendo — it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger, all the way up until the last chorus, where I crash out and there’s a big Phil Collins moment, with a drum-fill solo underneath Drake’s chorus. It was a tough one, man.”

So is Drake happy with the end result? Barker has no idea — seems Drizzy hasn’t even heard the remix yet. No one has. Until now, that is.

“No one’s heard this!” Barker said. “Actually, Marshall [Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem] heard it, and he loved it — but no one else has.”

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Lil Wayne

Photo: Bryan Bedder/ Getty Images

The wait is ova. No, not that one. After months of delays and rescheduled street dates, Lil Wayne’s new album, Rebirth, finally has an official release date. According to Billboard.com, the disc long rumored to be Wayne’s “rock” album will drop on December 15.

The album will come on the heels of his just-released No Ceilings mixtape. And while there has been some confusion about just how much actual rocking Wayne will do on it— he does appear on the new Weezer album — the rapper recently told Billboard that he does indeed bang his head on Rebirth.

“Yes, the album is still rock,” he said. “I play guitar on 80 percent of the songs, and there’s a lot of rock influences and rock beats. I also have Travis Barker on the album. But I don’t want people to think I’m trying to do something I can’t do. Don’t think you’re going to put on the album and hear me screaming and singing.

“When I said I was doing a rock album, it was about doing a freedom thing,” he continued. “This album isn’t hip-hop. When I do my Carter albums, I know I’ve got to rap, I know I’ve got to spit. I know the words I’ve got to say and the subjects I’ve got to talk about. I also know the things I shouldn’t say, the things I shouldn’t talk about. There’s none of those limits on this album. I say what I want, how I want. That’s what this album is: a freedom album.”

Wayne has suggested that he might release Rebirth and the Young Money crew album as a double disc. Because a few of the songs from Wayne’s album have leaked online during the past few months, he said he went back to the lab to cook up some new songs to throw off fans who thought they knew what he was up to.

“I had to add new cuts, because a lot of things leaked, making people think they had an idea of what I was doing with Rebirth and what it would sound like,” he said. “And I hated that, because I never want anybody to think they know what I’m doing until I present it. So what I did was make it totally different. I flipped it.”

In addition to protégé Drake, the album is slated to include guest spots from members of Fall Out Boy and Lenny Kravitz. It’s unknown if Rebirth will be the last full-length album Wayne will release before he is scheduled to go to prison in New York for at least eight months after pleading guilty to a felony charge of attempted criminal possession of a weapon.

A spokesperson for Wayne did not return requests for comment at press time for confirmation that the Young Money album, We Are Young Money, will be packaged with Rebirth.

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Jay-Z

Photo: Larry Busacca/ Getty Images

Mere hours after Jay-Z rocked the MTV Europe Music Awards in Berlin, he announced the North American dates for his 2010 BP3 Tour via a press release from promoter Live Nation. The tour will begin on February 22 in Houston, with more dates to be announced soon.

Young Jeezy is scheduled to open all dates on the tour, tickets for which go on sale beginning November 13.

	Jay-Z’s September 11th Benefit Show

The first leg of the tour is still under way, with dates in Fresno, California (Saturday), Los Angeles (Sunday), Austin, Texas (Tuesday) and Champaign, Illinois (November 12).

The second leg will make stops in Dallas; New Orleans; Atlanta; Greensboro, North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; Boston; Pittsburgh; St. Louis; Indianapolis; Denver; Los Angeles; and more, according to the press release. Additional day of show and on-sale information will be announced shortly for stops in East Rutherford, New Jersey; Uniondale, New York; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Detroit.

Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday through Citi’s Private Pass Program, and will also have access to VIP Ticket Packages.

Jay-Z’s 2010 North American tour dates, according to Live Nation:
» — 2/22 Houston @ Toyota Center
» — 2/23 Dallas @ American Airlines Center
» — 2/25 New Orleans @ New Orleans Arena
» — 2/27 Atlanta @ Philips Arena
» — 2/28 Greensboro, North Carolina @ Greensboro Coliseum Complex
» — 3/3 Washington, DC @ Verizon Center
» — 3/7 Norfolk, Virginia @ Scope Arena
» — 3/11 Boston @ TD Garden
» — 3/16 Pittsburgh @ Mellon Arena
» — 3/19 St. Louis @ Scottrade Center
» — 3/20 Indianapolis @ Conseco Fieldhouse
» — 3/22 Denver @ Pepsi Center
» — 3/24 San Jose, California @ HP Pavilion
» — 3/26 Los Angeles @ Staples Center

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Beyoncé accepts an award at the EMAs

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images

Bowler caps, bow ties, corsets, crystals, “boobie thingies” — no, these are not the remnants of last weekend’s Halloween rave but rather the accoutrements returning host
Katy Perry flounced around in at this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards. Together with the theme “Katy Kat Club,” the Sally Bowles-inspired garb was only appropriate as the 16th annual EMAs returned to its inaugural location of Berlin, just days before the 20th anniversary of when the Berlin wall came tumbling down.

Jay-Z,
Beyoncé, U2, Tokio Hotel, Leona Lewis, David Hasselhoff, Juliette Lewis, Shakira, the Jonas Brothers and Tokio Hotel were just some of the stars that turned up on the red carpet to commence the largest awards show in MTV Europe’s history. A staggering 17,000 audience members congregated at Berlin’s O2 Arena and Brandenburg Gate, while an estimated 2 billion people tuned in from home.

It was a night contrasted by both the old and new, bad jokes on the German language and crackling political overtones. Veteran act Green Day opened up the show with a blistering two-song performance that had lead singer Billie Joe pogoing his way through the crowd and ending in shooting flames and fireworks as “Minority” slowed to its last four-note chord. (Proving why the group was once synonymous with teenage angst, Joe later returned to the stage after winning for Best Rock with these wise words: “Great that we got the best co– band — I mean, rock band. Pardon my German.”)

A slithering and glittering Katy Perry then took the stage, bellowing out “Herzlich wilkommen meine damen und herren!” and performed a raw-vocal medley that included the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Gotta Feeling” and Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Curiously, Perry then ribbed Lady Gaga later during the show when she emerged from a set design involving a giant ruby-red shoe. “They say that if a guy has big shoes, then he has … the funny thing is, I think this belongs to Lady Gaga!”

The first award of the night went to U2 for Best Live Act. Taking the stage, Bono introduced the Edge, who in an emotional speech expressed how the recording of “One” in Berlin — inspired by Germany’s then-recent reunification and symbol as the new Europe — “brought the band together.” More East/West references abounded. Upon winning the award for Best Urban, Jay-Z, donning sunglasses and a black leather jacket, succinctly said, “The will come a day when the only walls that come down are just music,” then said something about the Jonas Brothers.

Both Lady Gaga (Best New Act) and Eminem (Best Male) accepted their awards remotely through televised acceptance speeches.

	EMA 2009 Show Highlights

And what is an awards show in Germany without the Hoff? Clad in a dazzling chrome silver dinner jacket, David Hasselhoff returned the country’s seemingly undying love for him by flashing his select knowledge of the native language. “Yo! Twenty years! Alles klar! I am not responsible for the wall falling down,” the former “Baywatch” actor announced with an apparent slur. “Wie gehts? Alles klar! Gut!”

But it was three-time winner Beyoncé (Best Song, “Halo”; Best Female; Best Video, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”) who had the best line of the night. Having performed earlier in a silken red set straight out of a Daphne du Maurier novel, the visibly weary singer simply said upon receiving her final award: “There is one person I want to thank, and that is Jay — for putting a ring on it!” then shot her fist into the air to loud cheers. “You go, B!” Katy Perry shouted from the sidelines.

Despite other spirited performances from Jay-Z, Shakira and overwhelmingly popular local androgynoids Tokio Hotel, the true stage spectacle of the night came from Leona Lewis. What started off as a rather standard rendition of “Happy,” set against a starry background, experienced a jaw-dropping special effect as a green vortex whirred around the singer then dramatically vanished into glittering stardust.

In the much-publicized highlight of the evening, Dublin rockers U2 performed a free 20-minute set in front of the historic Brandenburg Gate for the rabid 10,000 fans who had secured a spot online. Shot several hours earlier and beamed into the arena, the concert moved the audience even remotely as the giant pillars were emblazoned with the words “One Love” and “Freedom.” “Happy birthday, Berlin!” frontman Bono crowed during a performance of “One,” his voice both soaring and sage.

U2 returned to the big screen to close out the show, this time with Jay-Z freestyling over a performance of “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” Jay-Z rapped in the lyrics from Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up.” The gates behind them lit up in the holiday colors of green and red, like an early present. Bono leaned in to hold to Jay-Z’s hand as the duo raised them up triumphantly in the air.

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Rihanna

Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

Rihanna will be performing at this year’s American Music Awards,
joining previously announced acts like Eminem, Jay-Z, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Daughtry, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys and the Black Eyed Peas, MTV News has confirmed.

	2009 American Music Award Nominees

The show airs on Sunday, November 22, the day before Rihanna releases her new album, Rated R. At press time there was no word on what song she will perform, but she’s already dropped two singles from the album — the eerie ballad “Russian Roulette”
and the midtempo “Wait Your Turn” — and the Young Jeezy collaboration “Hard” has already hit radio.

It will be the third time she’s performed on the show. In 2007, she sang her Ne-Yo duet, “Hate That I Love You,” and her breakthrough hit, “Umbrella.” In 2008, she sang “Rehab.” Rihanna has won three American Music Awards in the past.

The awards show will feature an array of nominees determined by data from Nielsen SoundScan radio and retail figures, with Taylor Swift in the lead with six nominations, followed by the late Michael Jackson and Eminem at five apiece. Though Jackson had not released new material for nearly a decade at the time of his passing, his nominations are based on the strong sales of his catalog albums following his death.

Other multiple-category nominees include Lady Gaga, T.I., Kings of Leon, Beyoncé and the Peas, who all have three. For the third year, winners will be determined by online voting.

Rihanna will appear on “Good Morning America” on Thursday and “20/20″ Friday night. She’s also set to visit MTV’s “It’s On With Alexa Chung” on Monday.

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